Book 6 Summary and Analysis

Book Six features the curious inclusion of the story of Aristogiton and Harrmodius—notable mainly as a nearly unique authorial digression from the history of the war itself. Thucydides' text is generally regarded as finely crafted, highly focused, and consistently on-topic. Thus the 6.54 through 6.59 textual digressions are particularly notable. Although the text remains tightly focused on the principle topic of the Peloponnesian war, it does provide enough corollary materials that is has been the subject of scrutiny across a diverse field of studies. Political analysis, for example, considers early examples of realpolitik, and social analysis considers the early development of democratic institutions. Indeed, Thucydides' work is considered so reliable that nearly any aspect of ancient studies will somehow touch upon it.

Stylistically, Thucydides' text is complex and extraordinarily dense, which often leads to difficulty with clear interpretation of issues. Many...